Celebrating in a Different Manner
by ArodieltheElfofRohan
Summary: Estel travels to Mirkwood to enjoy a celebration with Legolas. Will Estel make it to Mirkwood, or will he stumble across some unexpected trouble? Written for the Spiders cometition for Estel Angst Central.
1. You Will Never Change

**Celebrating in a Different Manner**

by Arodiel

This story was written for the "Spiders" competition for Estel Angst Central. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, creatures, holidays, or places. I only own the plot for this story.

A/N: _Faradome _is an elven holiday that is celebrated at the beginning of the summer. It is a night of orc hunting. I did not make it up. Oh, and Estel is approximately twenty years old in this story. And one more thing: a character's thoughts are in _italics_.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to anyone who reviews on it. You will make my day!

Translations: Adar- Father; mellon nin- my friend.

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Chapter 1

Estel awoke to the sound of birds chirping nearby. It was a beautiful spring day, and the sunlight that was pouring into the young man's room had slowly crept its way onto his bed.

Estel rolled over, turning his back to the sun's rays, and pulled the bed sheets over his head. Estel obviously was not a morning person. He was about to fall back to sleep when there came a knock and the door.

"Enter," Estel said lazily, not moving a muscle from his comfortable position.

Lord Elrond came through the doorway, carrying a sealed piece of parchment. "Rise out of bed Estel, I have something for you."

"What is it?" asked Estel, pulling himself up into a sitting position on the bed and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"The messenger brought it to me this morning," answered Elrond. "A letter from Legolas."

Estel was wide awake immediately. He arose from bed and came to stand next to his foster-father, who was holding the message. Estel looked at the front of the paper, and sure enough, in elvish writing, was Estel's name. Although all Elves had very similar handwriting, Estel could tell the letter was written by Legolas' hand.

Lord Elrond smiled as he handed his foster-son the parchment. "Well, what does Legolas say?"

Estel took the letter and opened it. He read aloud what the message said:

_'Estel, my friend, it has been too long!_

_As you may have noticed, spring is coming to an end, and the celebration of Faradome is approaching soon. I was hoping that if you were able to, that you could accompany me in hunting along the borders of Mirkwood that night. If you wish to, and your father says you may, then send word back to me. I would offer to ride out to Rivendell and visit for a while, and then we both could ride back to Mirkwood together, but I am afraid I will not have the time. My father would like a group of elves, including myself, to scout the southern parts of Mirkwood. There have been reports of spiders nests there, and we have orders to rid the place of them. _

_You know of the place where we first went hunting together, just south of the Old Forest Road? If you can recall, there was a large stream that flowed southwards. Follow this stream for about half a league, and there you will find a small clearing. I will meet you there if you are able to come. _

_Send word of your response to me soon, mellon nin!_

_Your friend, _

_Legolas.'_

Estel looked up from the paper. "May I please go, adar?"

Lord Elrond thought for a moment while Estel watched him with hopeful eyes. "You may, as long as you promise to be careful."

"Oh I will be, adar, I promise!"

"And I do not want to hear that you have been injured by orcs, or _anything_ for that matter."

"Oh no adar, you will hear of no such thing!"

Elrond looked his son in the eye. "You do not mean a word you are saying to me." Estel grinned guiltily. Elrond sighed and playfully swatted Estel on the head. "You will never change." And with that, Lord Elrond left the room.

Estel made his way to his desk and sat down. He grabbed a nearby quill and dipped it into a vial of black ink. Estel eagerly wrote a responding letter back to Legolas, sealed it, and gave it to one of the elven messengers.

The young man came back inside and had breakfast. As he munched on some toasted bread, Estel began thinking about when he should leave Rivendell so that he would reach Mirkwood in time for the celebration.

_Faradome is in thirty-six days... it is slightly over a month's ride to Mirkwood... _Estel blinked. "I have to leave today if I am going to meet Legolas in time!" Leaving his breakfast plate on the table, but taking his toast with him, Estel scurried to his room to pack.

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"Adar, I _will_ be careful," Estel said for what seemed to him to be the umpteenth time.

Elrond sighed. "You are telling me this now, Estel, but in about a month or two I will more than likely hear that you have been gravely injured and only my healing skills will be able to save you from a grim fate."

Estel rolled his eyes at his father's words as he mounted his mare, Gilroch.

"I will see you next month, adar," Estel called over his shoulder to Lord Elrond.

"Farewell adar," Estel murmured, "Legolas, here I come!" Gilroch quickened her pace, feeling her rider's excitement.

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Well, did you like it so far? This is just the first chapter, so the part with the spiders is yet to come. I'll probably get to the spiders in either the next chapter or the third. I hope you will continue reading this story, and if you can, please review! It really encourages an author when people comment on their story. Tell me whether you liked it or not; favorite parts and recommendations. Thanks for reading!


	2. A Nightmare Comes True

**Celebrating in a Different Manner**

by Arodiel

This story was written for the "Spiders" competition for Estel Angst Central. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, creatures, holidays, or places. I only own the plot for this story.

Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to the following people: StarLight9, oxpecker, Kalisona, Calenlass Greenleaf, and fair rider. I love you all!!!

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Chapter 2

Estel's slightly bearded chin was nearly resting on his chest. Estel and Gilroch had been traveling for thirty days towards Mirkwood. The journey from Rivendell to Mirkwood on horseback was usually a thirty-five to forty day ride. But Estel and his horse had not experienced any bad weather along the way, making the journey quicker than usual, and the young man had caught sight of no orcs or other evil creatures that would slow them down.

It was now time for the moon to rule the skies. Estel was falling asleep still sitting atop his steed. Gilroch noticed this, and she soon stopped at a place she thought would suit her rider's need for sleep.

Estel yawned when he noticed the Gilroch was no longer walking. "We are making good time, Gilroch," Estel said as he climbed off his horse, stopping to rest for the night. "We are only two or three days away from where we are to meet Legolas. He will be surprised to see us there so early."

Gilroch whinnied in response. Estel smiled and took the saddle off of the weary horse. He tied the mare to a nearby tree that was surrounded by a blanket of soft, green grass.

The man yawned, unrolling his blankets on the ground. Estel was too tired to even take off his boots. He snuggled under the blankets, falling into the dark abyss of sleep.

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_Darkness._

_A world of black darkness._

_'Where am I?' Estel thought. No answer came to him._

_Estel heard in the distance the crunching sound of grass being chewed._

_Gilroch._

_But wait... there was another sound. Or rather, there was another presence. Yes, Estel could feel that something else was lurking in the darkness with him besides his mare._

_'Who is there?' called Estel. There was no answer. _

_'Show yourself!' Still, no response. Just an erie silence._

_Estel began to panic. He stood up and blindly ran away from the presence. He ran and ran, still surrounded by the darkness. Something was chasing him._

_Estel tripped and fell on some unseen object. But before he could stand up again, there was a hideous creature upon him. Its jaws reeked with the smell of death; yellow fangs dripping with anticipation. The creature opened its mouth to give the killing bite..._

"NO!" Estel cried, knife in hand. He looked around, seeing that he had merely been having a nightmare.

"It was just a dream," Estel said, trying to comfort himself. The young man laid back down. Although he knew what he had just seen was in his mind, Estel still felt a frightful presence closeby.

A nearby bush rustled slightly.

Estel gulped, clenching his knife tighter.

Without warning, the creature that had appeared in Estel's nightmare leapt out from behind the bush. Five of them.

Wargs!

Estel jumped up and grabbed his sword. The beasts seemed to close in around him, each one of them growling and baring its teeth.

When the first warg attacked, Estel was ready. It rushed straight at him, and its ugly face was pierced by Estel's sword. The weapon went deep, striking the creature's brain. The man extracted the sword from the carcass. "One down, four to go."

The next two wargs tried approaching Estel from different sides, but their strategy failed. Estel stabbed the one to his left in the eye, sending it running off into the forest yelping in pain. Estel turned and slashed the third warg across the face and stabbed it in the side.

"Two more," Estel muttered.

The last two wargs separated. One went to attempt bringing down Gilroch, while the other went for Estel. The wargs were in between the man and his mare, so there was no way for Estel to set free the horse.

The warg that attacked Gilroch was in for a surprise. He thought his prey would be rather easy to take. As the beast was in mid-air trying to leap atop the horse's un-protected back, Gilroch kicked her powerful hind legs out, which made contact with the unfortunate warg's ribs. The warg crumpled up in pain, slowly dying.

The fifth warg was circling Estel, snarling and drooling all the while. Estel brandished his sword as if daring the warg to make its move. But it never did anything but continue circling Estel. The young man was growing impatient. He readied his knife and threw it at the warg with elven accuracy. The knife embedded itself in the creature's neck, killing it instantly.

Estel breathed a sigh of relief; he had not been injured in the attack.

"If only ada could see me now," Estel said proudly to himself.

But Estel did not see the sixth warg.

The wolf-like creature pounced on Estel from behind, knocking them both to the ground. Before Estel could recover from the blow, the warg tore through the flesh on the man's right arm with its rotting teeth.

Estel could not help but yell in agony.

Still lying on the ground beneath the hungry warg, Estel reached down to his boot with his left hand to grab a hidden dagger. Estel brought the weapon up to the monster's face, stabbing the warg in the snout. The animal let go of its hold on the man's upper arm. Seizing the opportunity, Estel quickly lifted his sword high above his head and brought it down swiftly onto the warg's thick neck. Black blook spewed out from the creature's neck, and the decapitated warg fell to the ground with a thud.

Estel held his breath, listening for any other attackers that might have been nearby. But thankfully, the only sounds Estel heard were the sounds of the forest.

Estel decided he would be better off to stay awake until dawn. It was only an hour's wait. Estel looked at his bloodied arm.

"Uh," he grunted dissaprovingly. The tooth marks were between his elbow and shoulder, and although they were bleeding freely, the bites were not as bad as they felt. Estel looked for any signs of infection, but the gashes were too fresh to tell.

Estel walked over to Gilroch, stroking her neck softly while praising her for her prowess in the unexpected attack. Seeing that the horse had not been harmed, Estel walked back over to where his pack lay. He reached inside for some bandages, as well as some athelas leaves.

Estel could not find the bits of athelas that he packed. He kept feeling around inside his pack, and not finding them, dumped all the contents of the bag out on the ground. The man still did not see the healing leaves.

"Where could they be?" he asked himself. Estel looked in another small pack that he had brought, but the herbs were nowhere to be found.

Estel sighed. "I must have forgotten them," he admitted to himself. The young man shrugged and went off a short way into the forest to see if he could find some clusters of athelas. Estel returned a few minutes later, but he had not found the plant.

Estel looked at his arm again. _It will most likely not be infected,_ he thought. Estel poured some water from his canteen on the punctures, wiping the blood away, and wrapped the bandages tightly around his wounded arm.

Estel sat next to Gilroch and sang to her in the elven tongue until the sun crept its way above the horizon.

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Well, that's chapter two! Thank you Kalisona, Calenlass Greenleaf, StarLight9, The Artful Dodger's Girl, viggomaniac, fair rider, and Adedhel for reviewing on chapter one. I'll try to post chapter three very soon! Please review!


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